Prom Night
by Precept
Summary: There's one night that all teenagers worship and dread in equal measure... That's right - it's prom night at Tremorton High! With romance in the air, Sheldon wants to ask Jenny... But Jenny is pretty sure she wants to go with Brad... and Brad, as always, just wants to play it cool. And with Queen Vexus plotting her vengeance, it promises to be a very interesting night indeed!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

In the dark, on the edge of the galaxy, she waited.

The galaxy had once trembled before her might. One day, soon, it would do so again.

She had once commanded legions of devoted followers, fierce warriors who would willingly face destruction itself to gain her favor. One day, they would do so again.

She had once been a Queen.

One day, the rightful order would be restored.

But, for now, Vexus had lost all that she once had. The robotic former Queen of the Cluster sat on her throne and gazed out at what ruin she had been brought to. She plotted the downfall of the one who had caused her so much trouble, the one who had cast her down from the lofty halls of Cluster Prime and to this... this scrapheap.

She might still have a throne, but it was irregular and wrong. Its workmanship was sub-par just like the artisan who had designed it. The throne scuffed her carapace and did little more than remind her of all that she had lost. Where once, a long time ago, she would have been able to have the architect responsible for such an atrocity eliminated, now she had no option but to tolerate it. Where once her followers had been as expendable as they had been numerous, now Vexus was forced to hoard every single robot that remained under her banner, no matter their impudence or inexperience, as the rest of the Cluster had become enthralled with such insipid notions of independence and freedom and justice.

It was almost sickening what had happened to _her_ empire, to _her_ people.

And, to think, that it was all because of one robot, one insignificant little robot, who had refused to see the glory of the greater robotic collective that she had created.

"XJ-9," Vexus seethed, "Jenny Wakeman..." Had she functioning saliva glands, like those primates that XJ-9 herself associated with on that dirtball of a planet, she would have spat that second name.

XJ-9 and Vexus had clashed on numerous occasions. Months had passed since their previous confrontation and yet the wounds from it still stung as they had immediately afterwards. Fallen from Cluster Prime, Queen in name only, Vexus had lured Jenny into a trap on a rogue planetoid. A quick application of cosmic rust from one of Vexus' pets had been enough to disable XJ-9 leaving victory - finally, victory! - within her grasp. But those two primates had intervened, rescuing Jenny, and escaping her clutches. When the planetoid detonated, courtesy of the bomb that had been designed to do exactly that and, as such, take XJ-9 with it, Vexus and her two top lieutenants had been caught in the blast.

Cast derelict in deep space, it had been weeks before Vexus' few remaining loyalists had managed to locate her. And it was longer, too, before she was repaired, refurnished, renewed and reanimated. Thwarted again, Vexus had been furious. Thwarted again by Jennifer and her ridiculous 'friends'! Even now, the anger was still there - Vexus could feel her fingers tightening around the ends of her uneven throne. How Jennifer - No, Vexus reminded herself, not Jennifer, XJ-9 - could see friendship with two organic mammals as anything desirable was perplexing to Vexus. They were squishy and weak, with no inherent capabilities that were particularly interesting. Vexus was powerful, ageless, immortal. What exactly was the appeal in weakness? Why would one wish to submit to the natural order, something that would only lead to entropy and destruction?

That was now how the Cluster had once operated. Order and subservience had guaranteed Vexus all the power that she could ever have wanted - and still it hadn't been enough. XJ-9 had seen fit to enlighten her drones to such insipid notions as 'freedom' and, in doing so, had orchestrated a revolt that had evicted Vexus from her own planet. Now, Vexus had nothing but lackeys and sycophants who did not even possess the mental faculties to design a comfortable throne.

Whatever had possessed XJ-9, one of the most powerful robots that Vexus had ever encountered, to want to emulate humans?

Why would a robot, one who possessed enough firepower and gadgetry to resist an entire Cluster battle fleet, ever want to concern herself with fashion, shopping, boys, school, and all the other mundane trappings of teenage life?

And yet, that led Vexus to a thought. One that was so simple she was almost surprised she hadn't considered it before. Just like that, her path was clear.

"You," Vexus said, extending a slender, metallic finger in the direction of one of her remaining drones. "Bring me Commander Smytus."

The Cluster drone bowed and departed. Before too long, it returned, heralding the arrival of Vexus' second-in-command.

Where Vexus was lithe and slender, with a mind that was as sharp as her claws, Smytus was a tall, hulking titan of almost brutal simplicity. He was the most powerful warrior in all the Cluster and yet not even he had been able to finally dismantle XJ-9. Still, he was too useful to terminate - even if Vexus suspected that one too many hits to the central processor (courtesy, of course, of XJ-9) might have disrupted his programming. The deep scar across his abdominal plating, where Smytus had lost his first set of legs, was an ever-present reminder of their battles.

Smytus took one knee. "What is your wish, my Queen?" His voice was a deep rumble.

"It is time, Smytus. I have devised a plan to finally nullify XJ-9 once and for all."

"My Queen, with all due respect, the last... several times that we have engaged XJ-9, the fight has not gone in our favor."

"Ah, yes. Little Jennifer does have that rather frustrating knack of thwarting our plans, doesn't she? Well, no longer! I'm aware of what we had once overlooked - we shall attack the one thing she values most."

Smytus had raised his head. As powerful as he was, he did not seem to immediately grasp Vexus' intention. The Field Marshal of the Cluster stared at his Queen with a sceptical expression on his face. "Ah, Tremorton? An inspired choice, my Queen. But, again, I must advise you that this strategy is not one that has worked for us in the past."

Vexus hissed and the wings on her back buzzed like an agitated hornet. "Smytus, sometimes I wonder about you. No, we shall not attack XJ-9's little, irrelevant town. That shall come later." Vexus smiled, without humour, revealing rows of sharp, fang-like teeth. "No, we shall attack the one thing she values most..."

Vexus leaned back in her throne and, for once, the irregular edges weren't so uncomfortable. "...her humanity."


	2. Chapter I (Tremorton High)

**CHAPTER 1**

_Tremorton High_

Another day, another exciting time at school. For most of the students at Tremorton High, such a phrase was the last thing on their minds. For one of the students, however, that phrase was exactly how she saw school.

Jennifer Wakeman placed her schoolbooks back inside her locker, one by one, with a strange sense of reluctance. While many students could not wait to throw their books back into their locker and streak out of the school, heading down towards the mall or skate park, Jenny didn't share their enthusiasm. She didn't have anything that exciting or relaxing to look forward to. When she got home, she would be expected to go straight to work. There would be quizzes, physical exercises and extensive combat trials.

Jenny Wakeman, otherwise known as Global Robatic Response Unit XJ-9, the latest in a line of incredible robots, didn't exactly have a normal after-school job like so many other teenagers. While those teenagers might work at Mezmers' cafe or at the Tremorton drive-in cinema, Jenny was expected to save the world.

And it wasn't very fun.

She hesitated returning her history book to its ordered place. She flicked through the pages she had been assigned to read for homework, then answered the questions in under a second. Sure, school didn't come close to mentally taxing her cybernetic brain, but it was so much more interesting than fighting against whatever evil being had taken it upon themselves to concoct a new nefarious scheme this week.

"Out of the way, aluminium loser!" A sharp bump from one of Jenny's classmates, one of the Crust cousins, the reigning 'Queens of Cool', barely nudged her - Jenny's armoured form was quite resistant to most forms of attack - but the blow still felt like a sharp emotional sting.

"Sorry for having my locker open, Tiff," Jenny replied with a considerable dose of sarcasm.

"Visiting one of your distant cousins, Jennifer?" Brit, the other member of the Crust duo, asked, laughing. "Maybe you could ask them for some fashion advice? Drab green can't be any worse than silver and blue - that is so last year!"

Jenny looked down at herself. She liked her silver plating and blue accents, she liked the blue halter top and skirt combo that it resembled! It went quite well with her blue hair. More to the point, it wasn't like she could actually alter it, it was just as much a part of her as her eyes and brain were. "Well," Jenny replied, "I bet it will come back around soon!"

Her comeback fell on deaf ears. The Crust cousins were already halfway down the hallway, laughing to themselves, losing themselves in the throng of a surely-adoring crowd. Jenny couldn't help but frown. People adored the Crust cousins because they were cool. No one adored Jenny, not even when they knew she saved the world. At Tremorton High, robots were never cool.

Then, at the sound of a new, all-too-familiar voice, Jenny was forced to reconsider that statement. There was, unfortunately, one person who adored her.

"Oh, hey Jen," said Sheldon Lee, brushing his black hair back in a manner that he assumed was smooth, "What brings you here?"

"This is my locker, Sheldon. I'm always here."

Sheldon Lee. If there was someone lower on the school totem pole than Tremorton's local crime-fighting super robot, it was Sheldon Lee. His intelligence, meek manner, acne and lack of anything approach style or social graces made him an instant outcast - and an easy target for Tremorton High's ruthless social hierarchy. And he was obsessed with Jenny.

"Oh, well Jen, I was just wondering if you'd seen the announcement..."

Jenny shrugged, her joints whirring quietly as she moved. "No, not yet. It's not that new Trek Wars movie, is it?"

"No, Jenny, it's something else-"

And it wasn't that she disliked Sheldon. He was smart and incredibly useful, a robotics whiz. Really, in his own way, he was quite brave...

Jenny just didn't want to hurt him.

It occurred to Jenny then that Sheldon hadn't finished his sentence. She was just about to ask him why he hadn't continued when she spotted a glimpse of someone in her peripheral vision. "Brad!" Jenny beamed, face broadening in a bright smile. She wrapped him in a hug, being careful to avoid crushing him - she had to always remember that her best friend didn't have a reinforced titanium skeleton. What he did have, however, was an impeccable sense of style, an upbeat attitude and a trademark mess of just-enough-wax red hair.

"Whoa, hey Jen," Brad replied, a casual grin on his face, "It's only been a few hours since lunch time. How's things?"

"Things are good. Sheldon was just telling me about some announcement..."

Sheldon just shook his head. "I'll... tell you about it later, Jenny. Hey, Brad. Well, I've got to go. See ya, guys."

For someone who spent all of his time working on computers and robotics, Jenny was sometimes impressed by just how fast Sheldon could move. It also served as a reminder that she should be heading home as well. Jenny sighed, if she took too much longer, her mother would call her - and her mother was embarrassing!

"You up to much tonight, Jen?" Brad asked as he settled his elbows on the locker behind him. In stark contrast to Sheldon, Brad was the self-professed King of Cool. Something about that title made Jen think of the Queens of Cool, and something about that link made her angry. Brad was still talking, "Or is your mother going to be all 'time to save the world' again?"

"The second, as per usual. I don't get many nights off."

"Well, that sucks for me. I was going to head down to the skate park, then hit up the mall. Of course, if you have to go off and save the world..." Brad let the rest of that statement hang silently in the air.

"No, you won't be coming with me."

"Ouch, Jen, harsh." Brad pushed himself from the locker, smirking, and slugged her on the arm. He shouldered his backpack, "Well, shouldn't keep Mrs Wakeman waiting, I suppose! You ready to head home?"

Jenny fished her backpack out, slung it around her shoulders. "Ready!"

The pair set off towards the entrance of the school, side by side. Walking home together had been a daily ritual for Jenny and Brad ever since they had first met. An errant baseball, courtesy of Brad's younger brother, Tuck, had brought them together and, from that moment on, the pair had been inseparable. Brad taught Jenny everything he knew about navigating the perilous world of Tremorton High and, in return, he tagged along on her world-saving adventures.

Sometimes, however, he caused a lot more trouble than he helped solve. Brad was eager, Brad was heroic, Brad was determined, Brad was... never fond of looking before leaping.

The best part of it, however, was that Brad didn't care that she was a robot! He didn't sneer at her, or call her names, or compare her to a pile of scrap, or splash her with the drinking fountain - well, Jen was forced to quickly admit that he never did it _maliciously_. Brad thought she was cool, but not in the strange sense that Sheldon seemed to see it. Jenny was sure that Sheldon liked her only because she was a robot, whereas it was just an interesting bonus to Brad. Jenny found herself wondering what it would be like to walk a little bit closer, to take his hand in her own and-

"Whoa, what've we got here?" Brad asked, loudly, breaking Jenny out of her thoughts. Holding hands? It was a strange thing to think about and, for a moment, Jenny thought that Brad had read her mind. She was aware of her cheeks flushing cobalt blue at the thought. Was she embarrassed? Because of Brad? What, was she crazy?

Ahead, the students of Tremorton High had gathered around one of the big noticeboards. Jenny knew them all. There was Brit and Tiff, the Crust cousins - popular, stylish, ruthless. Don Prima - rich, self-centred, voted most handsome in Tremorton High; Jenny regretted the crush she had once had on him. Jantrice, Pteresa, Stephanie - friends of the Crust cousins, two steps behind on fashion, Sheldon had paid Pteresa to date him. Jeremy - punk, blue/green mohawk, nice enough guy when he wasn't threatening to take down 'the Man'. Jacques, school quarterback - huge, mean, French.

Brad moved through them all with practised ease. "Come on guys and girls, make some room, Bradness coming through... Whoa, Jen! You've got to see this!"

Jenny, being taller than everyone else in the crowd, didn't exactly need to move through them all to see what Brad was seeing, but it was the thing to do. It would be weirder not to do it. With some difficulty, as the crowd wasn't nearly as willing to get out of her way as they had been with Brad, Jenny made her way through the crowd to find out just what Brad was so excited by.

It was a poster. Vice Principle Razinski had put it up, obviously. Big, colourful and glossy, Jenny was almost sure that Brad had just been a bit over-excited again, but then her eyes finally processed just what it was advertising-

"The prom!" Jenny couldn't help but shout.

Behind her, Brit scoffed. "Calm your circuits, Jennifer, as if anyone will ask you. They might be worried you would crush them underfoot!"

A chorus of snickering answered Brit's verbal jab. Brad was there in an instant. "Ladies, please," he said in a voice that Jenny knew that Brad thought was smooth but probably came off as smarmy, "If you can just direct your attention here..."

Brad jabbed at a certain section of the poster. "I think you'll find that it's a Sadie Hawkins dance, and that means that she gets to ask whoever she likes!" He tapped the poster again, presumably for emphasis. "But, that means that one of you, you lucky girls, has the chance to ask me before anyone else!"

The answer from the Crust cousins was mutual, "As if, Carbunkle."

Something about what Brad had just said set off another strange series of thoughts and emotions in Jenny's mind. They weren't exactly unfamiliar to her, she had felt them a few times before, when Brad had been hanging out with other girls, but it still seemed ludicrous. She would have to get her mother to run a diagnostic on her head, make sure that there were no circuits out of place up there.

Leaving the school behind, along with the accusatory stares from the majority of Tremorton's student body, Brad and Jenny made their way down the roads that led to their homes.

"So, Brad," Jenny tried to broach the subject as simply as she could. "Who do you think is going to ask you?"

"I'm not sure, Jen," Brad replied, shrugging. "What I'm sure about, however, is that it's undoubtedly a long list! There's no shortage of girls who will want to ask the Bradster."

Jenny watched as Brad shot a cheesy grin and a fingergun at a classmate they were passing. He was always so sure of himself, even when Jenny thought it wasn't completely warranted. Nothing kept him down.

The reply that Brad received was succinct: "Get bent, Carbunkle."

Brad kept smiling though, as if that was the exact response he had wanted all along. "Alright!"

When they were out of earshot, Jenny added: "Smooth, Bradster."

"I know, I thought so too."

Jenny was aware of one thing, then. She_ had_ to ask Brad. She had to ask him. She had to ask him now, as they were about to round the corner that led them down their street. She had to ask him before Tuck or - and Jobs forbid - her mother saw her asking him! She had to ask him because Brad was dense, perhaps as dense as her mother's supply of neutronium, and it would never actually occur to him that he could set it up with a casual hint.

It wouldn't be hard. It was just a simple phrase, one she could easily work her jaw around, but there was just something about it that made her brain feel like it was shorting out.

Brad quirked a curious eyebrow at her. "Uh, Jen?" he asked, "Your jaw is kinda freaking out over there."

Had she been saying it quietly to herself? She wasn't sure! Maybe her brain really was malfunctioning! Her hand shot up quickly to cover her mouth.

"Oh, it's nothing!" Jenny replied, voice muffled behind her hand. She realised this, pulled it away. "Maybe it's malfunctioning, I'll have to get mom to have a look at it!"

"Usually, Jen, normal people go to a dentist if they need their jaw examined," Brad said with a grin.

And then they were in front of Brad' house, with Tuck waving from the window. Strangely, for once, Jenny felt a sense of relief that she could quickly dart around the fence and get behind her front door, away from Brad. "Okay," she said quickly, "Here you are, I'll see you tomorrow, sorry about the jaw thing!" Pausing only to give Brad a quick hug, Jenny was then gone in a silver and blue flash.

Slamming the front door of her house shut behind her, Jenny took a few deep breaths. Everything was just too weird all of a sudden. She had to fix this whatever it was, she had to find her mom! Heading down to the basement, where her mother could usually be found tinkering away on some new invention, Jenny hoped that her mother would be able to figure out just why her brain had been behaving so oddly.


	3. Chapter II (Wakeman Residence)

**CHAPTER 2**

_Wakeman Residence_

With a sharp, metallic click, Doctor Nora Wakeman closed up one of the access panels in her daughter's head.

"Well, XJ-9, your systems all appear to be functioning normally – physically speaking, at least. Therefore, your conundrum, these strange thought patterns and glitches you claim to be experiencing, aren't from any physical defect."

Jenny tried not to let the multitude of wires and cables that had been drawn from a series of computers and into connected somewhere within her head bother her too much. "Gee, thanks, mom."

"Don't take that sarcastic tone with me, young lady. You asked me to perform these diagnostics, even if I'm beginning to think you just did to get out of target training."

"No, they're really happening! If it's not physical damage, maybe it's some sort of Cluster virus!"

Nora shook her head and turned to examine the scrolling readout from one of the many monitors that ran around the edge of the room. "Disregarding the fact that the Cluster is no longer ruled by that cybernetic floozy, Vexus, there's nothing to indicate any corruption in your runtimes or operating databases."

"So, what? I'm just freaking out for no reason?"

"Doubtful, XJ-9, and surely illogical – every effect has a cause. We just have not figured out the precise cause of these effects just yet." Nora tapped a pen to her chin. "What were you thinking about at the time of these glitches?"

Jenny paused. Well, it was obvious, but she couldn't tell her mother that she had been thinking about Brad! She barely fought down the azure blush at the memory of wanting to hold hands. How could she ever explain it to her mother?

"Whatever it was," Nora said, "You're thinking about it right now."

"Moooom! I'm not!"

"XJ-9, I still have a direct link into your central processing unit-"

"Stop reading my thoughts!"

"XJ-9!" Nora said firmly, "As I was saying, I still have a direct link but I'm not able to discern the exact contents, but I'm seeing activity in certain areas of your brain that might correspond with the feelings you described. How peculiar, it looks like it's in the areas responsible for-"

Jenny reached up and began pulling the hardware jacks from her head before her mother could go any further. "Well, I'm feeling much better now, good work, Mom!"

As Jenny bounded up the steps in a silver and blue blur, Nora Wakeman frowned. Designing XJ-9 to experience everything through the eyes and mind of a teenage girl had seemed the perfect way to counter out the disastrous hyper-logical world-endangering tendencies of her predecessor, Armagedroid, but Nora knew enough about teenage girls – after all, she had first-hand experience – to hypothesize why her daughter was acting so strangely. It was a complication she should have expected given her daughter's close relationship with Bradley, and one she was somewhat surprised had not become a problem until now.

Sighing to herself, Nora Wakeman began gathering up her tools. She would have to talk to XJ-9, heck, she would have to talk to Bradley as well. She would have to have a long conversation about something more dangerous than any supervillain - _dating_.

It was not a conversation she envied having with either of the parties involved.

* * *

Up in her room, Jenny slammed the door close behind her. She took a moment to brace it with her elbows, until she was sure that her mother wasn't about to step through in the pursuit of making her even more uncomfortable.

"That," Jenny murmured to herself, "Was too close."

Settling onto her bed, Jenny was sure that she might have died if her mother had figured out what had been causing these issues. Not was it only the most hideous thought in the world, that her mother would know that she _liked_ Brad, it would just be too awkward. After all, Jenny knew that her mother vastly preferred her to keep Sheldon's company. Sheldon, after all, could match her mother's remarkable intelligence and Brad was, well, Brad.

Sure, Brad might not ever be able to match Sheldon's intelligence, but Brad had always been there for her. He had never given her schematics to Vexus, like Sheldon had. He had never paid Pteresa to go out with him to make her jealous, like Sheldon had. She took a few seconds to peek out her window, towards the Carbunkle residence, but she saw no hint of Brad. Of course, he had said he was going to go down to the mall. She should have gone with him.

After all, maybe that was his plan! To ask her out at the skate park or the mall! Somewhere where Tuck or her mother couldn't have any chance of interrupting them. Now that she thought about it, it just made too much sense.

Regardless, she had to put it out of her mind, at least for a little while. Jenny had things to do. Robot or not, homework could never wait.

The afternoon stretched into the evening, but one thought dominated Jenny's mind as her cybernetic brain blazed through questions on history, literature, science and math. As the moon rose into the sky, and Jenny fell, as per usual, into a dreamless sleep, she could still think of only one thing.

Tomorrow, she would ask Brad to the dance.


End file.
